The Wu administration has acknowledged it has compiled a listing of Mayor Michelle Wu’s most vocal critics and despatched it to the Boston Police Department, claiming safety considerations.
“The list was made in response to a request from the Boston Police Department after the Mayor had been harassed and physically intimidated by individuals for several months outside her home, at city functions such as the annual neighborhood parks coffee hours, and at other public events,” Wu spokesman Ricardo Patron mentioned in an announcement to the Herald.
This is the primary time the Wu administration has admitted it compiled such a listing, which was uncovered in an e mail by a gaggle of Wu opponents by a public data request.
It exhibits the Wu administration taking the offensive in opposition to her opponents, approaching the heels of passing an ordinance prohibiting protests exterior the mayor’s Roslindale residence throughout sure hours.
But the weird motion raises questions on whether or not it crosses the road into utilizing Nixonian techniques to suppress individuals’s rights to protest and intimidate her critics.
“The request (from police) came after many of the individuals on the list repeatedly impeded the Dorchester Day Parade to harass Mayor Wu and her family and staff, yelling through megaphones at her and her children for nearly ninety minutes as they marched in the parade despite being asked by parade organizers to leave the parade route,” Patron mentioned.
“Following the Dorchester Day Parade on June 5, 2022, Boston Police met with City staff on June 10 to make a safety plan for the upcoming Bunker Hill Day parade on June 12, and the then-Captain of the District overseeing Charlestown asked for a list of individuals who had been involved in public disruption and harassment of the Mayor at the Dorchester Day Parade and outside her house,” Patron added. “The email was sent as a follow-up immediately after that meeting.”
It’s unclear what actions police took in response to getting the watch record.
The record – despatched in an e mail from Wu’s former Director of Constituent Services Dave Vittorini to Boston Police Capt. Robert Ciccolo – contains Wu’s most vocal opponents, reminiscent of City Council candidate Christine Vitale, a number of anti-vaccine activists who’ve been protesting Wu’s home, and North End restaurant homeowners who’ve opposed Wu insurance policies.
Included within the e mail was merely the names of 15 individuals together with Vitale, Shana Cottone, “Mendoza Brothers from the North End,” and “A woman with the last name of Thuy who was arrested before.”
There was no rationalization within the e mail of why the names have been listed.
Also cc’d on the e-mail have been Wu aides Tiffany Chu and Brianna Millor.
The e mail was despatched following loud protests exterior Wu’s Roslindale residence final yr.
Vitale is operating for considered one of 4 at-large City Council seats and has been an outspoken Wu critic. Others on the record have been part of protests exterior Wu’s Roslindale home, in line with the Boston Accountability Network, a gaggle of Wu opponents.
Richard NIxon was notorious for compiling an enemies record throughout his presidency, and Wu opponents now consider she is utilizing comparable techniques, calling the record a “hit list.”
Source: www.bostonherald.com”